PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia’s first international exposition kicks off Monday and includes more than 100 events over 47 days.

For years, Philadelphia has been the city between New York and Washington, DC. But a group of 100 organizations with international ties is hoping to change that. The Global Philadelphia Association is hosting the city’s first biannual exposition, titled Global Philly 2013. And it’s so big…it took a while to figure out exactly what to call it.

“There are so many pieces to this,” says John F. Smith, chair of the board for the Global Philadelphia Association and partner at Reed Smith LLP. “It’s not possible to describe it as a sporting event, even though there will be sporting events and it’s not possible to call it a concert, although there will be concerts. It’s not possible to call it an economic event although there will be four or five economic discussions.”

So….expo it is! The series of events kicks off September 15th and runs 47 days. Offerings focus on seven key components: Advocacy, Arts, Commerce, Cuisine, Education, Heritage and Sports. Global Philly highlights what’s going on in Philadelphia by tying together all of the city’s events global interests in the xCultural (Multicultural) Passport to Philadelphia, which includes more than dozens of offerings at various venues throughout the city over the next six weeks. Examples of passport stops include the Franklin Institute’s “SPY: The Secret World of Espionage,” which runs through October 6th, as well as Philadelphia United Jazz Festival, which runs through September 21st.

“We’re going to show off a lot of different aspects of our global city,” says Smith, “We’ve always been global, we’ve always been international, it’s always been important to us.”

Other activities include Peace Day on September 20, an International Showcase at the World Trade Center on September 25, panels and discussion on immigration, importing and exporting, cyber security, and so much more.

“My hope is that through a combination of personal attendance and media coverage, people will begin to see what has always been the case here,” says Smith.

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Cherri Gregg is the community affairs reporter for KYW Newsradio 1060.
She reports on a variety of public affairs and social justice related issues, producing news reports, podcasts and other materials for KYW Radio, CBS-3 TV...